particracyfandomcom-20200215-history
Restored Ameliorate Church of Saridan
The Restored Ameliorate Church of Saridan (Duntrekaans: Hersteld Verbetering Kerk in Seridjan) is an Ameliorate ecumenical church and the largest religious group in Saridan. It was established in 1806 as a result of the merging of several different Duntrekker Ameliorate churches. Beliefs - man cannot do anything to obtain salvation, only God aids you in doing so; God initiates (unconditional election) your salvation - public worship in a church guided by minister is necessary (regulative principle of worship); God says how to worship in Bible, and prohibits everything else - total depravity doctrine that all mankind is enslaved to sin from the moment of birth - relationship between God and man is a covenant and cannot be changed by man; - God is present in all realms of earthly life The Holy Trinity The Church, as most Hosianism denominations, adheres to the principle of the triune or trinity; the belief that God is three-in-one as the Father, the Spirit & Son (Eliyahu). Eliyahu Faith and Reason Sin Belief in total depravity - The doctrine of total depravity (also called "total inability") asserts that, as a consequence of the fall of humanity into sin, every person born into the world is enslaved to the service of sin. People are not by nature inclined to love God with their whole heart, mind, or strength, but rather all are inclined to serve their own interests over those of their neighbor and to reject the rule of God - point of contention between Ameliorate & Independent Confessional branches Salvation - complete ruin of humanity's ethical nature against a backdrop of the sovereign grace of God in salvation. - all people are entirely at the mercy of God, who would be just in condemning all people for their sins, but who has chosen to be merciful to some. - One person is saved while another is condemned, not because of a foreseen willingness, faith, or any other virtue in the first person, but because God sovereignly chose to have mercy on them. - every person born into the world is enslaved to the service of sin. People are not by nature inclined to love God with their whole heart, mind, or strength, but rather all are inclined to serve their own interests over those of their neighbor and to reject the rule of God. - God is at work in all realms of existence, including the spiritual, physical, and intellectual realms, whether secular or sacred, public or private, on earth or in heaven. Decentralization of Doctrine The Church is intended to primarily serve as a symbol, stating to the world "This is an Independent Confessional Nation", as well as ensuring any church that wants recognition must not stray too far from the Bible. Which is to say that individual Confessional denominations have a certain amount of freedom to determine their own Doctrine. The Church is intended to act primarily as a Statement of the Nation's Status as a Independent and Confessional Nation, not to determine rigid doctrine. As such, it allows sects such as Ameliorate or Independent Confessional to exist within it, and make their own doctrinal decisions regarding issues such as the godhood or manhood of Eliyahu, legitimacy of the Trinity, legality of polygyny, merits of works and acts etc. - moral purity of all aspects of life - individual and business conformance to Bible - specific roles of men and women, goes back to Bible and original sin - worship in church strictly regulated by what is in Hosian Duntrekker Bible; Bible different than typical Independent Bibles - believe themselves to be the chosen people of God; a Covenant exists to create a new home in a new Promised Land; Saridan Duntrekkers see the nation as this new promised land - explains Trek - persecution was bestowed upon them as a test of their faith - created strong bond between communities - No separation of Church and State; they are one in the same - An emphasis on private study of the Bible - The priesthood of all believers - Simplicity in worship, the exclusion of vestments, images, candles, etc. - Did not celebrate traditional holidays which they believed to be in violation of the regulative principle of worship. - Believed the Sabbath was still obligatory for Hosians, although they believed the Sabbath had been changed to Sunday Practices & Structure - presided over by a Teaching Elder - Presbyterian organization: elders run local church - Believe God, People, and State should be one and the same -- called "Tasselianism" ----- The typical Duntrekker village is small, roughly 80-250 members and contains a small, plain-looking church. The village church is presided over by a Begeleideprediker (Guided-preacher) who normally has spent several decades studying scripture, discussing theology, and learning religious traditions with elder preachers. However, since the process of earning a "preacherhood" is time-consuming and immensely difficult the number of qualified preachers is few and therefore it is not uncommon for a collection of village elders to preside over sermons and church services; the idea being that several experienced elders together have enough knowledge to carry out a sermon. Major services such as weddings, funerals, and baptisms must be performed by a qualified Begeleideprediker. Typical service: - short sermon - hymn singing; some more rigid communities see hymn singing as sacriledge and instead read Psalms as poetry - long sermon - blessings (preacher discusses events around the village such as animal births, child births, anniversaries, harvests, etc and has "congregation" thank God for these blessings), the idea is to allow the community to "see" how God has helped and blessed them - communion = given twice yearly; and on special occasions such as baptism, weddings, or funerals - baptism = Duntrekkers in foreign lands tend to baptize "breeched" boys (about 5 years old) and girls upon reaching puberty (often considered age 12 regardless of physical puberty) Category:Religion Category:Hosianism